The hours and days after a devastating truck accident can be confusing and overwhelming. Your first instinct might be to wait a while and let things settle down before calling a lawyer.

That’s an understandable instinct, but it’s also the wrong one if you want to give your legal case the best chance of success. In this article, we’ll discuss several important reasons why you should contact an attorney for help as soon as possible after a truck wreck.

Understanding the Statute of Limitations in Trucking Accident Cases

One factor that makes it extremely important to move quickly after a truck crash is the statute of limitations. These laws set the maximum time after a truck crash or other injury-causing event that the victim or their family can take legal action.

The statute of limitations in your case is like a timer that begins ticking as soon as your injury occurs. Once the timer counts down to zero, your chance to file a lawsuit and get compensation for medical bills, lost wages, and other damages is gone forever.

Statutes of limitations are set by state law and aren’t the same everywhere, so the time limit for you to file a lawsuit will depend on the state where your accident occurred. Usually, the statute of limitations for personal injury cases is two or three years, and timeframes for wrongful death cases are often shorter.

While two or three years might sound like a lot of time, keep in mind that the statute of limitations is the deadline to file a lawsuit, not to contact a lawyer. Filing a lawsuit properly often takes months of investigation, preparation, and paperwork, so don’t expect to walk into an attorney’s office the week before the statute of limitations expires and be able to file suit in time.

Preserving Evidence Is Critical to Your Case’s Success

The statute of limitations isn’t the only reason why you need to act fast after a truck wreck. Truck crashes produce lots of complex evidence, and the sooner your attorney begins gathering this evidence, the stronger your case will be.

Crucial evidence that can affect the outcome of your case, from eyewitness statements to electronic trucking logs, may only be available for a short time after the wreck. The longer you wait to contact a lawyer who can start investigating your case and preserving evidence, the greater the chance that this important evidence will disappear or even get deliberately destroyed by the trucking company (which is called “spoliation of evidence” in legal terms).

To make sure that all the evidence stays intact in your case, you need to contact a lawyer immediately. If you call them quickly enough, your lawyer should be able to investigate the scene, take pictures of damaged vehicles, get contact information from witnesses, and gather other evidence before it gets lost or covered up.

Insurance Companies and Their Attorneys Move Quickly After a Crash

While you and your loved ones might feel lost and overwhelmed in the wake of a devastating wreck, the defense lawyers representing the insurance companies know exactly what to do. Within minutes or hours after the crash, they’ll make their way to the scene and start gathering evidence to help their case.

These “rapid reaction” or “rapid response” teams of lawyers often gather materials and then try to classify them as “work product,” which means they won’t have to turn them over to the plaintiff and their lawyer in a lawsuit. Often, the defense attorneys voluntarily turn over only the materials that help their case. They’ll try to protect everything else under work-product privilege.

The best way to fight back against these tactics is to contact an attorney right away. An experienced trucking accident lawyer should know how to overcome work-product objections and can address any other tactics the attorneys for the other side might use to undermine your case.

If you have suffered injuries or even lost a loved one in a devastating truck crash, Truck Wreck Justice Attorney Morgan Adams is here to help. With years of experience and a sole focus on large vehicle cases, Morgan Adams has the expertise and resources needed to guide you through a complex trucking accident claim and fight for justice on your behalf.

Please contact us at (866) 580-4878 or fill out our online contact form if you need help. We offer free initial consultations to assess your situation and discuss your legal options, and we handle cases on a contingent fee basis, which means that you won’t pay attorney’s fees unless we achieve a financial recovery on your behalf.

The content provided here is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice on any subject.

Truck Wreck Justice, PLLC. is a personal injury law firm with a primary focus on large truck and bus accident litigation. The firm serves clients throughout the country, with East Coast offices in Tennessee and West Coast offices in Washington.

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